Schools

Results from the spring ACT assessment of 11th-grade students are in, and overall, local students maintained similar scores from year to year.

At Lake Shore High School, the composite score of 19.7 was down slightly from the 2013-14 composite score of 20. The juniors at the school had the same English and math scores over the two years, at 18.6 and 21.5, respectively, but dropped slightly from 18.7 to 18.3 in reading and from 20.5 to 20.1 in science, according to scores provided by the Michigan Department of Education.

BERKLEY — In Berkley School District Drama Coordinator John Hopkins’ fourth year in the district, the drama students will be tackling possibly their biggest production yet when they present “Noises Off” Dec. 3-5.

The production, a three-act play-within-a-play written by Michael Frayn, takes the audience through the troubles during dress rehearsal, gives them a peek backstage during a live performance, and then finally shows how all the problems present themselves during the closing performance.

The players visited the school on Nov. 19 to teach kids about the importance of being healthy through exercise and a proper diet. The hockey players also showed the students somet stick-handling techniques.

The visit was a part of the Red Wings School Assembly Program, which introduces elementary students to hockey through street and floor hockey.

BERKLEY — As part of ongoing planning in both the city of Berkley and the Berkley School District, a play structure at Angell Elementary School that had been deemed unsafe this fall will be torn down and replaced by the end of the school year.

The two entities announced the plan and collaboration Nov. 10. The city will remove the current play structure by the end of November, and the school district will install a new drainage system in the area next spring. Lastly, the city will install the new play structure.

WARREN — When she was in the ninth grade, Julie DuBois dropped out of school.

Last May, the 37-year-old Sterling Heights resident found herself in class again. At the encouragement of her boyfriend, DuBois enrolled in the GED program available at Leaps and Bounds Family Services in Warren.

Working one-on-one with a teacher, DuBois is on her way to earning her GED.

“It’s been going good so far,” DuBois said. “I thought I would never be able to do this, but I’m doing pretty good, actually.”

FERNDALE — Next summer, two Ferndale School District musicians will have the opportunity to expand their musical and cultural educations as they travel to Europe as part of the Blue Lake International Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Eighth-grader George Van Der Vennet and sophomore Rachel Arquero were two of the 400 musicians selected to be part of the youth orchestra for the summer of 2016. More than 1,700 students applied for the opportunity to travel and play in France, Germany and a third, yet-to-be-determined country.

FARMINGTON — A group of Farmington elementary school children have teamed up to spread awareness about recycling plastic bags.

The group of kids, comprising students from Warner Upper Elementary School and Forest Elementary School, are part of a robotics team participating in the 2015 Trash Trek competition from the FIRST Lego League.

ROSEVILLE — Reading assistance programs are helping the bottom-performing students at Huron Park Elementary do better, but according to a presentation at the Roseville school board’s meeting Nov. 16, the school has not escaped its designation as a Focus School yet.

ROYAL OAK — Local children will have the opportunity to name the city’s upcoming smart park following approval last week to enter into a partnership with the school district.

Members of the City Commission gave their unanimous support during the Nov. 9 meeting to allow Royal Oak Schools elementary students the chance to name the future Center Street smart park. The park was made possible through a successful crowdfunding campaign.

FERNDALE — By the time the Ferndale High School marching band took to the field after 10 p.m. Nov. 7 at Ford Field, the state marching band judges had seen more than 40 performances throughout the day, including 11 other performances in Ferndale’s flight.

But the best was most certainly saved for last in Flight IV, as the FHS marching band was able to wow the judges and the audience with its Middle Eastern-themed performance and take home the state championship after a three-year drought.

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — The scores for Chippewa Valley Schools students on the ACT are on the rise, according to a presentation during a Board of Education meeting earlier this month provided by Ed Skiba, director of secondary education for the district.

Across the district, 1,285 ACT exams were taken by CVS students in 2015, with an average score of 21.1, which is higher than the state average of 20.1

WARREN — Students from across Macomb County schools were invited to a diversity summit held at Macomb Community College Nov. 5 to help learn about other cultures and how to work together effectively.

Roseville Community Schools sent eight students from Roseville Middle School and another seven from Eastland Middle School; East Detroit High School also had a group of eight students attend the event.

CLINTON TOWNSHIP— Projections presented to the Chippewa Valley Schools Board of Education on Nov. 2 from a Michigan State University professor show that the district will likely see decreased enrollment over the next five years.

Dr. Frederick Ignatovich, of MSU and Stanfred Consultants, presented his findings to the board, and concluded that a most likely scenario is that student population in grades K-12 will fall by 4.6 percent through 2020-21.

CENTER LINE — The students in the Center Line High School firefighting program have found a way to help others outside the classroom.

The students recently performed a community service project in which they provided smoke detectors to residents free of charge.

In groups of three, the students planned to distribute them Nov. 7, after the Warren Weekly went to press. They also had plans to replace non-working batteries for homeowners, and a Center Line public safety officer was to accompany each group.

BIRMINGHAM — According to Birmingham Public Schools Superintendent Daniel Nerad, as of press time last week, four of five of the district’s bargaining units had settled and ratified new contracts, putting employees on both sides of the table a bit more at ease than they’d been for the past few months.

Only the teachers union is left, and Nerad said he is hopeful their contract will be settled at the next Board of Education meeting in mid-November.